Love is the end
by Acebetweencities
Summary: LEYTON AU. She went to bed with Lucas on her mind, and allowed herself to think that maybe something could happen. And just the thought of the possibility felt damn good.


**AN :**Hi, this is my first attempt at a multi-chapter story, so... The idea came out of nowhere and I had to write it down. This is a Leyton story and this is absolutely, totally AU. I'm not really confident about this chapter so feedback would be gladly appreciated.

The song is Love is the end, by **Keane,** amazing song and band...

**Disclaimer :** I do not own One Tree Hill, all characters belongs to their respective owners. But I do own the plot.

I do not own, Love is the end, by Keane either.

_Now is the time of our comfort and plenty  
These are the day's we've been working for  
Nothing can touch us and noth__ing can harm us  
No, nothing goes wrong anymore_

Peyton was lying on her bed, starring intently into space, listening to the sounds of the city. When she had moved to New York a couple of years ago, the first nights had been difficult because of the noise. But now, every time she went back to her hometown, at night she found herself missing the city gentle and noisy lullaby.

Peyton Sawyer had grown up in Tree Hill, a small town on the coast. New York was a big change but it was needed. She wanted to see and experience new things, so when she got a scholarship to go to NYU, she jumped at the opportunity. Her father was away most of the time dredging boats, and her friends were all headed to UNC.

Brooke, Nathan and Haley were all standing at the bottom of the elevator in the airport the day she left, tears running on Brooke cheeks, Haley's head buried in Nathan's shirt, who being the "man" had to keep up with appearances and pretended he had something in his eye.

This was the end of an era; they had grown up together, faced Peyton's mother death together, freaked out when Brooke thought she was pregnant in junior year, cried together when Nathan's dad passed away. This was their childhood, and they needed to let it go. Walk their own paths and make their dreams come true.

_Singing a song with your feet on the dashboard_

_A cigarette streaming into the night_

_These are the things that I want to remember_

_I want to remember you by_

And so Peyton went to New York to major in Art and Art History. The first two years were amazing; it was everything she ever wanted. The university was incredible; she loved every minute of it. She made a couple of friends and a lot of her free time was spent hours talking to Brooke and Haley over the phone. It was almost like they were still living two minutes apart from each other. Peyton knew everything about Brooke's new boyfriend who was as hot as Jude Law but more faithful according to her, she also heard everything about Nathan bad habits around the flat, and Haley becoming even more of a workaholic. She missed them a lot, but had to admit that she was really happy in New York. And she had Alexis Hart.

Peyton and Alexis had become fast friends; they both started college at the same time and were attending the same classes. After a shaky first encounter where Peyton spilled her hot cup of coffee all over a late and furious Alexis. A load of apologies and two coffees later, they bonded over their art teacher's habit to gaze a little too intently at his female students cleavages.

So there she was, on a Friday night waiting for Alexis. Their teacher had given them a presentation to work on and they needed to start early if they didn't want to end up rushing to finish it like last time.

_They won't come again_

'_Cause love is the end_

_Oh no, my friend_

_Love is the end_

A loud knock on the door distracted Peyton from her thoughts as she went on to answer. Only to be greeted by her fiery redhead friend carrying two pints of Ben and Jerry's and bag full of marshmallows.

"I come bearing junk food!!"

"Well, doesn't that sound appealing? Trying to give me heart attack before I turn thirty?"

Alexis stared at the blonde as she made her way through the small living room, and plopped down on the couch.

"You, my friend, should consider yourself pretty lucky because a thousand years ago the life expectancy was barely over 25, and the rest was bonus!!! So now, it's like everybody has something like 50-55 years of life bonus..."

Laughing at her friend logic, she let herself fall next to her.

"Remind why do I put up with you?"

"You really want a list? First of all: You love me!! Second of all: I'm your only fun and sexy friend here and third of all because I invited Julian and his friend over tonight!!"

"You did what? I don't believe you!! We are supposed to study, and get this presentation rolling!!"

"Oh who say we can't study and have fun at the same time?"

"I do, because you're definition of fun is slightly different than mine! Yours involve and your boyfriend making out on my couch while I play third wheel with one of his geek friend!"

Alexis looked at her friend with in mock disgust.

"I can't believe you think that low of me, and I only want you to be happy, that's why I told Julian to bring Lucas over. He's transferring from Berkeley, and he doesn't know anybody yet. He's really sweet and it wouldn't hurt you to have a little bit of fun in a certain department if you know what I mean..."

"Oh we are so not getting there! I'll have you know that I perfectly satisfied at the moment."

"Come on. You didn't have sex in two months!"

Peyton was starting to get more annoyed, as much as she loved her friend she really didn't want to spend the night with a total stranger so Alexis could spent the evening making out with her boyfriend without feeling too bad.

"Yes, two months, I know in Alexis's time it's like a huge drought but I AM FINE. Got it? So you're gonna call your boyfriend and cancel."

"Peyton come on; don't be like that...I..."

Alexis stopped mid-sentence as she heard a knock on the door. She quickly went to open it but not without Peyton sighing loudly and cursing her into oblivion.

Julian stepped in and greeted his girlfriend, pecking her lips and turned to Peyton.

"Hi Peyton! Thanks for having us."

"Oh don't thank me. I have nothing to do with this, and so would I when your girlfriend fails her midterms."

"Well, aren't you in a good mood tonight?"

Peyton just shrugged and went to sit back on the couch. She was too busy being angry at Alex for setting this up that she didn't notice the other boy in the room until Julian started gesturing towards her.

"The bundle of joy over there is Peyton, Peyton this is Lucas, my best friend."

Peyton looked at the boy; he was blonde and quite tall. Not really the kind of guy she expected, he seemed to be really fit and had a gorgeous smile. He extended his hand and reached out to her.

"Hi, I've heard a lot about you."

"Sorry can't say the same; I didn't know you existed until 5 minutes ago."

Well this is a really good start... Lucas thought.

Peyton looked at him, green meets blue, he seemed surprised and a little hurt. Before she could control herself the words came out.

"I'm sorry... That was rude, it's just I wasn't expecting anybody apart from Al and we were supposed to study."

And then he smiled.

"It's okay. Julian use to force things into me all the time when we were kids, so I know how it is."

Alexis and Julian were watching the scene unfolding before them with wide eyes. Julian whispered in his girlfriend ear.

"Did Peyton Sawyer just apologize for being bitchy?"

Just then, Peyton's voice reached his ears.

"Baker! What are you whispering about?"

"You know me...Dirty stuff..."

Making a disgusted face, she threw one of the couch cushions at him.

"Cut it out! And go get some beers, so I know why I keep you around."

"You..."

He was about to retort something but decided against it when he saw the glare she was giving him.

Dropping the evil eye, Peyton turned to Lucas, all smile.

"So Lucas, what are you majoring into?"

_I took off my clothes and I ran to the ocean  
Looking for somewhere to start a-new  
And when I was drowning in that holy water  
All I could think of was you_

The evening went on pretty well, considering how it started. Lucas was fitting in perfectly; he had a confidence that threw Peyton on the edge, bitching didn't do it with him. She quickly learned that he was majoring in literature and creative writing, and was crazy about basket ball.

They didn't know that much about each other but Peyton had a feeling that they could be good friends. That night they parted with the promise to see each other again soon. And it felt good, for a while it was almost like she was back in Tree Hill, hanging out with the "old gang". She went to bed with Lucas on her mind, and allowed herself to think that maybe something could happen between them. And just the thought of the possibility felt damn good.

_Whoa__, my friend_

'_Cause love is the end_

_So let__'s not pretend_

_Love is the end_

The days flew by and as they spent more time together, they both realized that they had much more things in common than they originally thought. Their music tastes were similar and Peyton was elated that she had somebody to share her love for "_i-want-to-kill-myself_" music as Alexis so gently put it.

She was sitting in Washington Square Park enjoying the first rays of sun when her phone rang. She glanced at the caller I.D. Brooke.

"Hey best friend!!"

"_Hi."_

"Whoa, cheer up B. Davis! What's with the sad voice? Is everything ok?"

"_I don't know. You tell me. You've been kind of M.I.A. lately."_

"I know and I'm sorry, but I've been busy with school and one of my teachers wants us to attend as much art shows as we can. And there is this new guy, his name is Lucas, I really like him, we've been hanging out a lot."

"_I'm sure you're really busy, so I won't keep you any longer."_

"Brooke, stop what's wrong. I'm sorry for not calling that much but trust me when I say I was busy."

"_Yes, too busy to notice what day we are today."_

That's when it downed on her. Today was Nathan's father death anniversary. Each year they had a small ceremony; and spend the day together.

"Oh my god! I can't believe I forgot."

"_Yes. So, do I."_

"Look Brooke, I can't make it tonight but I can catch a plane and come this week-end, we can spend the whole week-end together like old times."

"_I don't think this is a really good idea. Nathan says he understand but deep down we all know he is really hurt, I think it will be better if you just give him time. You let him down, Peyton. He never did."_

"Brooke, I'm so sorry and angry at myself. I don't know what happened; I know how hard it is for Nathan at this time of the year."

"_It will be okay, Peyton. Just give it time. We'll see each other for spring break; it will be good for all of us."_

"Brooke about spring break..."

"_What about spring break? Please don't tell me you're not coming home."_

"I'm sorry, I already signed for this trip with school, and we're going to Europe with one of our Art History teachers. I can't miss it."

"_Yes, right. When you find some time to fit us into your schedule let us know."_

"Brooke don't be like that! I'm truly sorry. I wish I could..."

"_That's all I'm hearing lately Peyton. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's like we don't matter to you anymore, you've become this busy New York snob girl. All you talk about is art shows and how cool is the city, and Alexis did that, and Julian did this... And Lucas! "_

"What do you want me to do? Maybe I shouldn't have friends and mope around until I come back to Tree Hill. I have news for you Brooke, we are not in Tree Hill anymore, this is life and I'm getting on with mine and I'm sorry if it's too much out of your comfort zone. We can't stay together forever; this is not a fairy tale. The sooner you realize it, the better."

"_I guess you're right let's just forget about what we went through together, this wasn't life, this was just a piece of cake. Remember how easy it was when you__r mom died. Typical fairy tale."_

"Brooke..."

"_I'm done for now, Peyton. Let's just end this before we hurt each other even more. Good Bye Peyton."_

"Good Bye, Brooke."

The line went dead. Looking up at the sky, Peyton let the tears flow freely down her cheeks.

_Take it back, don't let it die_

_Or raise again the fallen night_

'_Cause__ I still do, depend on you_

_So don't say those words, you wrung me through_

Peyton walked back to her apartment and tried to ring Nathan, each time it went straight to voice mail.

"_Nathan, I'm so sorry. I wanted to be there, I really did. It's just; life. It's hard and I forgot. I'm sorry I forgot, I know you wanted me there. I don't know what to say. I love you. Please, please never ever doubt that."_

_Woah, my friend_

'_Cause love is the end_

_So let__'s not pretend_

_Love is the end_

She was tossing and turning in her bed, and she kept thinking of the awful things she said to Brooke. And how she had let down Nathan and Haley. Deep down, she knew she had been busy, but the truth was much scarier, the truth was they were drifting apart. And the only constants factors in her life were changing, and she wasn't ready to admit it. Not yet.

She reached for her phone trying to call Nathan again, but it started to ring. Private call.

"hello?"

"_Peyton?"_

She quickly recognized Nathan's mother.

"Deb? Are you alright?"

"_Peyton...I..."_

The only sound she could hear was a loud sob.

"Deb, you're starting to scare me, what's wrong?"

"_They were all going back to UNC... The truck ran the car over...They didn't see it coming. Peyton, they.... they...they died."_

"They what? No, this is not happening, they can't be.... I talked to Brooke this afternoon...They can't be... They can't leave me..."

"_Oh, Peyton is there someone with you?"_

"I'll call...someone...don't worry. I'll call you back."

Peyton got out of bed in a hurry, opening the window leading to the small balcony, sending her phone crashing down on the ground, before collapsing on the floor in loud sobs.

_So I tread the only road_

_T__he only road I know_

_Nowhere to go, but home_

_Nowhere to go_

_Maybe our time is up_

_But still you can't look back_

_But all the principles of love_

_Don't say those words_

_Don't say those words_


End file.
